Still
by DarlingVioletta777
Summary: Total AU. Everyone is human. Story of Buffy's life through a set of pictures, as her life is in a threatening situation. B/A
1. Default Chapter

Title: Still  
Rating: R  
Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Tara/Willow, Anya/Xander,   
Gunn/Fred.  
Summary: AU fic, everyone is human. Most of it is   
flashbacks, it is pretty clear which is which. All will   
be explained eventually…  
Spoilers: Nope.  
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own everything.   
Umm, I mean Joss and his zombies do…  
Dedication: To Nina and Ky for being the best!  
  
***  
Her fingers shook as she pried open the rigid metal   
box. Finally it opened, she let go off the lid and it fell   
with a clatter to the floor.   
"Are you there?" a voice called from the portable   
phone lying by the box where she knelt.   
"I'm here." she said, picking it up with a bloody   
hand.   
"What's in there then?" he asked.  
"It, it looks like the insides of a computer. Memory,   
hard drive, clock." She explained.  
"Anything else in…wait, a clock? Computer's don't   
have clocks in them…" he questioned.  
"Yeah, it's on five minutes…Oh god Gunn! It's   
started moving. I…It's counting backwards" she   
stammered.  
The phone dropped as her hands shook. She spun   
around to look at her husband standing looking in   
the window with a tiny girl in his arms. He had a   
devastated look on his face. She wiped a tear away   
with the back of her hand.   
"I'm sorry." she mouthed through the barred   
windows, before scooping up the phone and running   
out the room. She took the stairs two at a time. She   
yanked the handle to the bedroom and went in. She   
kicked the broken lamp out of the way and opened   
the door to the walk in closet. Her legs gave way   
and she landed in a heap with the piles of clothes   
and boxes.   
"Hello?" she heard.  
She put the phone up to her ear.  
"I'm going to die Gunn." She whispered.   
She heard a harsh intake of breath from the other   
end, "Where are you?"  
"In the closet, it's in the extension of the house, the   
furthest away from the living room as possible." It   
was her time to sob. "Gunn?"  
"Yeah." he murmured.  
"Tell Angel I love him. And my baby, when she's old   
enough to understand."  
"You're not going to die." He said with as much   
conviction as he could muster.  
Gunn looked around the whole of his office.   
Everyone was in complete silence. He couldn't   
remember the last time it was so quiet, there was   
always a radio on or someone arguing.  
  
The girl sat huddled gently rocking. She was going   
to die. She could feel it.   
A small box caught her eye. Her photo box. In a   
second a pile of pictures were in her hand.   
A colourful picture of her . She closed her eyes and   
let the memories wash over her.   
  
"Buffy?" Dawn said, slipping around her older sisters   
bedroom door.  
Buffy looked up from her magazine she was reading   
sprawled on her bed, "What?"  
"You know you're my favourite sister…" Dawn   
began.  
"No."   
"But…"  
"No! Last time you spilt some unidentified red stuff   
down the front of it, and it took me an hour of   
scrubbing to get it out. There is no way you are   
borrowing my top."  
Her door slammed again.   
"Buffy?" Joyce called up from downstairs.  
"Yeah?"  
"We are going to the store, do you want to come?"   
she asked.  
"No. I'm…" Buffy glanced around her bedroom, she   
caught sight of a biology book almost hidden under   
a pile of clothes, "Doing my homework."  
"We'll be back later honey." Hank called.  
"Bye!" Buffy answered, flipping the page.  
Buffy yawned and sat up. She must have fallen   
asleep, the magazine was lying discarded on the   
floor.  
There was a loud knock at the door. She glanced at   
the time, it was twelve thirty. Where was everyone?   
The knock sounded again and she jumped out of bed   
and ran down the stairs.  
She opened the door. Two police officers stood   
there.  
"Miss Summers?" the oldest looking asked.  
Buffy glanced around the drive. Her parents car was   
missing.  
She nodded.  
"There has been an accident." He informed her. Her   
heart stopped.  
"Are they ok?" she asked anxiously.  
"I'm very sorry. A lorry lost control on the ice, it hit   
your parents car head on."  
Time stopped.   
"But, they are alive? Right, just in hospital and…"  
"There were no survivors." The younger said.   
I didn't give Dawn the top. All that she wanted was   
the stupid top. It looked good on her.  
I lied to my parents. Then they died. I hadn't told   
them I loved them when they left. They didn't know.   
None of them did.  
  
The next picture. Tara's flat. It was a mess. Tara and   
I sat on the sofa, big smiles on our faces.   
  
"And then she said, that's not my car." Xander   
finished with an expectant beam on his face.   
Tara and Buffy looked at each other, before bursting   
into laughter. Xander looked pleased with himself.   
His object in life was to make people laugh.   
The two best friends giggled for a few minutes,   
before Buffy suddenly burst into tears.  
"My joke wasn't that bad was it?" Xander asked   
worriedly.  
Tara pulled her into as hug, "Oh Buffy. What's the   
matter?"  
"I…I have to sell the house." She stammered, "I   
can't afford to keep it. I have nowhere to live Tara."  
Tara took her hand, "I have plenty of space. Stay   
with me."  
She smiled through her tears, "Are you sure? Won't   
Anya mind?"  
Tara giggled, "As long as we let her carry on   
screwing Xander nightly, I don't think she cares."  
"Hey!" Xander protested, "I take offence to…ok I   
don't."  
  
Buffy dropped the photo. It seemed like a lifetime   
ago…  
The next picture was of the café. Her and Tara's   
café. Where Tara had met Willow.   
  
"Oh my god!" Tara squealed, "We own it! It's ours   
Buffy!"  
Buffy laughed, "I know!"   
They had saved up for a year to buy it. They had   
worked all hours at different jobs until they had   
enough.  
They twirled around in happiness.   
"Ok, now all's we have to do is hire some people,   
and we're set." Buffy said finally. They had been   
holding interviews all day.   
"I liked Willow." Tara said.  
"I bet you did." Buffy laughed, waggling her   
eyebrows suggestively. "You need a girlfriend! You   
haven't had one since...well we won't mention that."  
Tara sighed, "I know. Well, she's hired."  
  
The next photo was of a sleeping contented baby.   
Isabelle was Xander and Anya's daughter. But she   
wasn't always content…  
  
"Mama please stop crying, I can't stand the sound.   
You're pain is painful and it's tearing me down…"   
Buffy sang softly, to the wailing baby in her arms.  
"That song is kinda depressing, it's teary song, not a   
smiley one!" Tara pointed out, holding out a warm   
bottle.   
"I ran out of songs!" Buffy told her, "So I went for   
depressing. I thought it would be a change to If   
you're happy and you know it…"  
"Do you want me to call Anya?" Tara suggested.  
"No…" Buffy said, "She said her and Xander, and I   
quote, 'Are gonna have night of hot monkey sex,   
and are not to be disturbed.' So…"  
Tara smiled at there friends bluntness, "You wanna   
try walking her round the block again?"  
  
The next photo, the four girls together at the café   
where they worked for four years together. Xander's   
fiancé Anya, Willow, Tara and Buffy. Tara and Willow   
had been dating for a year when it happened.   
  
Willow scrubbed at the table. "This stain is not   
coming off." she told Buffy.  
"Try this." Buffy suggested, going over to the table   
with a bottle of cleaner.   
"Are you still serving?" A warm voice asked her.   
Buffy spun around.   
Oh my god.  
A tall man stood there, with a small smile playing on   
his lips. He had chocolate brown eyes that made her   
heart melt. He was wearing a black silk shirt, and   
smart jeans.   
Hel-lo.  
"Yes." She answered.  
"Can I have a coffee then please?" he said.  
"Yes." Buffy said again, continuing to stare.  
"Do I have something on my face?"  
"Yes. You have a very nice face." Oops.  
He smiled, "So do you." Score one.  
The mysterious man had come into the shop every   
day for two weeks, until she finally asked.  
"What's you're name?"  
"Angel. What's yours?"  
"Buffy."  
"Doyouwanttogooutwithme?" he suddenly blurted   
out.  
"Ithoughtyouwouldneverask." She blurted back. 


	2. Chapter two

Chapter 2  
***  
  
The next picture was of Angel's office. He was a   
detective, in fact he ran the agency, Angel   
Investigations.  
  
"And this, is Buffy Summers. My girlfriend." Angel   
announced proudly to his small work force.   
Fred, Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley took it in turns to   
shake the small blonde's hand. It was the first girl   
he had ever introduced to them, surprising them all.   
"You run the café right? On the Highstreet,   
George's?" Fred asked, in her Texas drawl.  
Buffy nodded, "Yes, that's right." She suddenly   
clicked her fingers, "I knew I knew you! Fred right?   
And your boyfriend is Gunn?"  
"Yes! I'm Willow's friend. You live with her girlfriend   
right?"  
They all became friends after that, regularly clubbing   
as a large group.  
  
The next picture was a baby scan. Buffy's fingers   
traced the small image of her baby girl.   
  
Angel opened the door to Tara's flat. He had a key.  
He could hear the sound of faint crying coming from   
the living room.   
He quickly went in. Buffy lay curled up on the sofa.   
Her heard was buried in one of Willow's handmade   
cushions.  
"Buffy? Sweetheart what's wrong?" he asked, he   
scooped her petite frame into his arms and sat down   
again, her wrapped up.  
She continued shaking.   
"Are you hurt?" he asked.  
She sat up and wiped her tears away. "Angel, I…I'm   
pregnant. I'm sorry!"   
His heart burst with joy.  
"Really? Oh my god! We're going to be parents?"  
She looked at him in a shocked way. "You're   
happy?" she questioned.  
"Of course I am."  
She smiled, "I thought you would hate me and leave   
me."  
He hugged her, "No way Buffy. I love you with all   
my heart. Nothing could make me happier."  
  
Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes. She added it to   
the pile. The next was both of them, sitting on a rug.   
They were having a picnic. They had got a passerby   
to take the picture.  
  
Angel carefully laid the grapes out. Everything had   
to be perfect. He lit the scented candles.   
"Ok!" he called.  
Buffy walked out from behind the tree where she   
had been told to wait.  
She gasped. "Angel!"  
He walked up to her, "You like?"  
"I love." She met his soft lips with a sweet kiss. His   
hand went automatically to her rounded stomach,   
where there little baby was growing inside of her.   
He took her hand and led her to the rug.   
"Stop." Angel said. He reached into his pocket and   
brought out a small box.   
He slowly knelt down. Her emerald eyes went wide   
as realisation hit her.  
"Buffy Summers, before I met you, my life was   
meaningless. I had no particular reason to look   
forward to the day. Then that day I met you in   
George's, changed everything. You are my light, my   
world Buffy. And now, I would love it more than   
anything, if you could be my wife?"   
She breathed deeply. "Yes." She said, "Oh god yes."  
He opened the box and took out a small silver rind.   
"This is a Claddagh ring. It comes from my Irish   
Grandmother. When you wear the heart pointing   
inward, it means you belong to someone." He slid it   
on her finger.   
Suddenly she gasped.  
"What's wrong?" he asked, a panicked look on his   
face.  
"The baby kicked." Buffy told her, she took his hand   
and placed it on her stomach again. "Well, we know   
someone agrees."  
  
Buffy placed her hand on her now flat stomach, a   
faint smile at the memory. The next picture was of   
Angel and her daughter sleeping together, the   
following morning after she had given birth to her.  
  
"I've got popcorn." Xander said, waggling the bag in   
his hand. Anya snatched it off of him and took a   
handful.  
Tara look a nine month pregnant Buffy by the arm   
and sat her down on the chair.   
"You pick a movie." She said.   
"How come she gets to choose?" Anya complained,   
"She's pregnant not ill."  
Buffy sighed, "You choose…ow." She bent slightly in   
pain and her face went white.  
"What?" Xander asked.  
"She's just trying to make me feel guilty now." Anya   
said.  
"I had a contraction!" Buffy wailed, "Call Angel, he's   
at the office."  
Tara went with her in the ambulance, while Xander   
and Anya went to look for Angel.  
"Where is he?" Buffy screamed, as another   
contraction hit her a few hours later in hospital.  
"He will be here." Tara said soothingly, "Just   
breathe."  
The door burst open and Angel came running in   
looking flustered. "I'm so sorry, I was on a case   
and…."  
Buffy screamed again.   
"Push!" the nurse called.  
Angel took her small hand and clenched his teeth as   
she gripped it.   
It was all worth it though, when a tiny little girl was   
placed in his arms. He looked at Buffy was falling   
asleep.  
"Well done sweetheart." He murmured as she drifted   
off.  
Just before she was gone he heard her whisper,   
"Katie Dawn O'Connor."   
He smiled at Katie. "Aren't you proud of mummy?"  
  
There were complications after the birth, Buffy   
remembered as she put the photo down. Buffy was   
slowly bleeding inside and they hadn't noticed until it   
was almost too late. She had been rushed into   
theatre when Angel noticed her paleness and   
struggled breathing. She had died on the table, but   
they managed to resuscitate her.   
  
"Please wake up Buffy. Please, please." Angel   
chanted holding her limp hand in his own. They said   
she was going to be fine, so why wasn't she waking?  
"I mean what do I say to you? I've got angry and   
I've cried, I've begged and pleaded."  
Nothing.  
"Katie's a week old now. She does so much   
everyday, you can't miss anymore."  
He gazed at her pale face for a long moment. She   
had lost so much weight over that past week.  
"Buffy…" he moaned.  
There was a knock at the door and the nurse came   
in. She held a crying Katie in her arms.  
"I'm very sorry, we've all tried everything."  
Angel stood up, "It's fine." He took Katie from her   
arms and the nurse left.  
Angel walked back over the bed and gently jogged   
Katie up and down. "Shh." He said, rubbing her tiny   
back.   
He looked down at his sleeping fiancé and then   
placed there baby on her front. Katie screamed once   
more, then put her head down and closed her eyes.  
Angel smiled.  
  
She woke up the day after. Even in the coma, she   
could hear everything, but just couldn't move.   
The next picture was framed. Angel was sitting by a   
huge archway of red, yellow and white roses and his   
wife was sitting on his lap, in her Ivory silken dress.   
There eyes were locked and held declarations of love   
to one another.   
  
"You're burning me!" Buffy yelped.  
Anya moved the curling tong away, "Sorry."  
Willow came bursting into the room. "I found the   
shoes."  
Buffy breathed a sign of relief. All of the bridesmaids   
tailored shoes had gone missing and they had no   
others.   
Anya fluffed the curls and threaded a white rose   
through. "Ta da." She announced.   
Tara moved back from Buffy's face where she had   
been touching up on the makeup.  
"Oh Buffy," Tara sighed, "You look lovely."  
Buffy smiled at her best friend, who she had known   
since she was a baby.   
"I want to get married to Xander." Anya announced,   
"He better ask me soon."  
"He will." Buffy said reassuringly, "When the time is   
right."   
"Oh god, look at the time!" Willow exclaimed, "We   
better go."  
They all stood up and slipped there shoes on and   
went out the door, to where the limousine was   
waiting outside the front door. There was silence in   
the bedroom.  
Suddenly the door burst open and Buffy ran back in.  
"Something blue, anything blue…" she said franticly,   
rummaging through her drawers.  
Tara followed her, "Earrings!" she said, holding up   
some pretty sapphire teardrops.  
"Hurry up!" Anya yelled.  
Tara helped her affix them, before they hurried back   
out again.  
  
TBC...  
  
Please, please leave feedback! 


	3. Chapter three

Title: Still  
  
Rating: R  
  
Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Tara/Willow, Anya/Xander, Gunn/Fred.  
  
Summary: Part Two, still flashbacks explaining the present.   
  
A/N: Yes I know Tara is Buffy's best friend in this. It's not that I don't like Willow, I just wanted to give Tara more of a role and give Willow a rest. Come on, after S6 ending, Willow fics were everywhere…so she gets a 'Tara' part in this one.  
  
Spoilers: Nope.  
  
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own everything. Umm, I mean the talented Joss and that stupid woman that doesn't know what the hell she is talking about, Marti, and all that lot do.  
  
Feedback: I'm begging you. Jade-Hamn@bushinternet.com  
  
Dedication: To Tariq for telling it straight. *g*  
  
Buffy neatly placed all the photographs back in the box. She glanced around for a clock, but couldn't see one. She picked up the phone lying at her feet.  
  
"Gunn?" she whispered.  
  
"Yeah." he answered.  
  
"H…how long left?" she stammered.  
  
"One minute by our clock. Are you sure there is no way out? Try a back door, a window? Anything?" He asked, knowing it was useless anyway.  
  
"You don't think I've tried?" she snapped.   
  
"Yeah, sorry." he muttered. A long pause. "10 seconds."  
  
*Five months earlier*  
  
"Spike!" Angel yelled, "I told you to sort the heating out a week ago."  
  
Spike sauntered through the open door that was between Angel's office and everyone else's.  
  
Spike regarded his older brother with slight distaste.   
  
"Do it yourself you lazy wanker." He said, flicking his cigarette bud at him.  
  
Angel glared at him until Spike put up his hands in mock protest.   
  
"Fine, I'll sodding do it like the slave I am."  
  
"Your pay really reflects that of a slave." Angel muttered sarcastically.   
  
There was a quiet knock at the door and Angel looked up.  
  
"Hello Fred." He greeted warmly.  
  
"Why hello." Spike said, grinning flirtatiously and standing up from the heater. "How you doing?"  
  
"I'm engaged." Fred informed him, showing him the diamond on her finger.  
  
Spike rolled his eyes and knelt back down again.  
  
"There's someone here to see you." she told Angel, "An important client."   
  
"I wasn't expecting anyone…" Angel said shuffling through notes on his desk to see if he had missed something.  
  
"He has a limousine and a guard." She added, "He screams 'I'm rich.'"  
  
Angel smiled, "Show him in, Spike go away."  
  
Spike threw down the spanner he was using, "Bloody ponce" he said, before stalking out of the plush office.  
  
Angel sighed; Buffy had made him take his unemployed brother a week ago, on at 'Angel Investigations,' as she felt sorry for him. He didn't do much work, just sat smoking, reading magazines and flirting with clients. Fred and Gunn had just got back from a two week holiday.  
  
Maybe I should book a surprise holiday for Buffy, Katie and I, he mused.  
  
He glanced up, stood and smiled when he saw a man standing there. He stepped forward and held his hand out.  
  
"Angel O'Connor." He introduced.  
  
"Lindsey McDonald." He replied, taking Angel's hand and giving him a firm handshake.  
  
"Pleased to meet you. What can I do for you?" Angel asked, taking a seat again and gesturing Lindsey to do the same.  
  
"I need someone to be watched. A colleague of mine to be exact. She's up to no good, going behind my back." Lindsey explained.  
  
"Well, we need as much information as possible. Anything you think is helpful." Angel told him.   
  
"Her name is Lilah Morgan." Angel tensed; it was his second case with her. Only a year ago, her husband had suspected she was cheating on him. Angel had proved him right and they divorced. She had lost all her money in the divorce. He had also gone to school with her. She had been in love with Angel, but he had never returned her affections.   
  
"I can get you address's, numbers, everything you need. I just want her watched and proof about what she's doing." Lindsey said. "I want the bitch to be taken down."  
  
Angel nodded, always the professional. "Right, proof. It will cost you."  
  
"I want the best, and you, O'Connor are the best. I will pay anything." Lindsey informed him. "I will fax you the details."   
  
*A month later*  
  
"I have everything you asked for." Angel said, dropping a thick file in front of Lindsey. "Pictures, video evidence and recordings. You have everything you need to take her down and then some."   
  
Lindsey leaned back on the plush leather chair and smiled.   
  
"Thank you." He said, picking it up. "The money will be paid immediately."  
  
Lindsey walked back out of the office and into his limousine that was waiting. He didn't notice the woman standing just a few yards away behind a tree, pulling a long, black coat protectively around herself.   
  
She stepped out as soon as the car sped off. She wasn't stupid, she knew exactly what Lindsey had been up to, but unfortunately found out to late. She grimaced at the evidence she knew he had in his grasp.   
  
Angel O'Conner. How he disgusted her.  
  
He had destroyed Lilah. Knocked her back, taken Wesley, her once loving husband away from her and now she had lost her job.  
  
She would get her revenge on him, even if it killed her.  
  
"Nobody takes me for a fool, Lilah." Lindsey snapped, "You have two options. You leave now, and nothing will happen. You stay, I will pass all the information to management and I will make your life a living hell."  
  
Lilah glared at him, her face full of hatred. "Are you telling me you're a wholesome boy Lindsey? Everyone in this company is corrupted, and you know it."  
  
"Which makes it ok?" he snapped, his hazel eyes boring into hers. "They would choose me over you Lilah and you know it."   
  
Lilah held his gaze for a beat before turning to face the door. "I will leave then." She said, the tone one of defeat.   
  
As the door closed behind her, Lindsey felt a prickle of regret. He did feel sorry for her, in a way. She was a lying bitch but she had just lost something that was a huge part of her. Working where they did was a full time job. She had become bitter after her divorce. Nobody could take away the fact that she wasn't a pleasant woman and she never had been. But at least she used to be bearable until Wesley left her.   
  
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Riley Finn queried the woman who was pacing his office.   
  
"Yes." She said, "Angel will pay."  
  
"You remember Riley?" Buffy asked Tara, over a cappuccino  
  
"Riley Finn? Completely in love with you in high school?" Tara said.   
  
"That's the one. Well, I've been seeing him a lot recently. Following me in his car, walking in the street behind me."  
  
"Have you told Angel?" Tara queried immediately.  
  
"No, not yet. I will do though." She said, stirring the froth. "He's creeping me out."  
  
"Riley's an idiot. You know that." Tara commented.  
  
"Yeah, but he changed after he asked me out. He became almost bitter when I said no. He never really became the same again. I mean, it was probably nothing to do with me, but it was around that time."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Tara exclaimed, "He was completely in love with you. You hurt him bad."  
  
"I feel guilty." Riley told Lilah. "I mean, she's innocent."  
  
"Remember how you felt? When she embarrassed you. She took your heart and stomped on it. Now is your time for payback." Lilah answered.  
  
"But the kid is nothing to do with that."  
  
"Look, I want Angel to pay. And the way to do that is to do what I tell you!'" Lilah yelled.  
  
Riley looked down.  
  
Lilah fixed him a level stare. "You agreed to do this job and you signed a contract. You don't want to drop out now do you?"   
  
Riley almost shook at the amount of hatred in her cold eyes, "It just doesn't seem fair."  
  
"Fair? I lost my home, husband and job because of him. I don't see fair entering the equation. If you drop out now, I can make life very difficult for you Mr Finn. Understand?"   
  
The sandy haired man nodded fearfully.   
  
"Tara!" Buffy called, an excited tone to her voice. "That's it."  
  
The brunette walked to where Buffy was standing.  
  
"What's it?"  
  
She looked to where Buffy's vision was trained and gasped.  
  
A long, pale blue dress met her wide eyes.  
  
"It's exactly what I had in mind." She muttered.   
  
"It's perfect!" Buffy exclaimed. Tara was getting married to Willow in a few months and they were having a girly shopping day.  
  
Katie's cries filled the large clothes shop they were in and Buffy disappeared into the bathroom to change her.  
  
"Can I try it on please?" Tara asked a passing shop lady.  
  
"It's new in," she informed Tara taking it off of the hanger, "Hand made."  
  
It was everything Tara dreamed of. Getting married to the woman she loved in a moonlit beach, with only Buffy and Angel as witnesses.   
  
Buffy emerged with her now contended daughter and went to find Tara in the changing rooms.  
  
"Well?" Buffy asked through the curtain.  
  
"It's slightly too long, but it can be adjusted." Tara called back. Buffy smiled and turned to lay her daughter back in the stroller.   
  
"Can you help unzip me please?" Tara asked.  
  
Buffy stepped through the curtain to assist her best friend.   
  
"Do you think Willow will like it?" Tara said nervously.  
  
"She will love it!" Buffy said, stepping back out.   
  
There a sound behind her and as she turned something heavy hit her on the head. She stumbled and fell onto the floor. She saw Katie being lifted out of the stroller and screamed.  
  
Tara came running out and saw what was happening. She kicked the man hard in the shin. Buffy leapt back up and threw herself at him.  
  
He shoved Buffy hard into Tara and sprinted off.   
  
Tara put the small child back in the stroller and ran after him, calling for the police. Buffy tried to get back up, but her head was spinning. Her last conscious thought was for Angel to be here.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"Bruised. Scared."  
  
"And you?"  
  
"I've been better." A pause. "Angel thinks it wasn't just a random attack."  
  
"Why would they go for Buffy?"  
  
"I don't know. Angel is completely freaking over it. He ordered the windows at there house to be bolted and Gunn and the rest of the staff to follow Buffy twenty-four-seven." Tara informed Xander.  
  
"I don't blame him."  
  
"Me neither. I hope it was a one off attack. I couldn't stand it if anyone got hurt." Tara said, her eyes filling with tears. "He got away! It was all set up; they even clipped the cameras so there is no evidence."  
  
Xander pulled his friend into his arms. "It's ok, they will get him." He calmed, as reassuringly as he could.  
  
"You failed?" Riley asked calmly.  
  
Forrest nodded. "I can try again."   
  
"Are you stupid? They are going to have protection now. They aren't just going to be walking about with her now!" Lilah snapped, "We will have to do it another way."  
  
"Like how?" Riley asked.  
  
"You want your revenge, I want mine."  
  
"Yeah…" Doubt crossing his face.  
  
"Now we go for the kill." Lilah said, an insane smile crossing her face.  
  
"Look, I wanted that bitch dead for a very long time. But now? No way. Keeping her kid hostage is one thing…but no one is dying. Try anything and I'm going straight to the police."  
  
"Oh really?"   
  
"Yes." Riley said, courage building up. Lilah nodded to Forrest who stepped forward.  
  
"I'm sorry man, but you really are stupid." He said, before pulling out a gun.  
  
Riley stared at him in shock, "No…wait."  
  
His body crumpled on the floor.  
  
"Get rid of him, before the blood stains the floor." Demanded Lilah, "Cleaning bills are a bitch." 


End file.
